Caron Butler Interview

[tcf15]

Butler Hates Ollie’s Firing; ‘Just No Buzz’ at UConn – The UConn Daily

 

[8893]

Read that with my morning UConn Daily e-mail; was wondering when it was going to drop here...

 

[Wordbomar]

Win games, get back in the tournament, play a great OOC schedule, and then nobody will be saying anything.

 

[Wordbomar]

Also the idea that you get a lifetime pass as a coach because you won a championship is ridiculous. KO ran this program into the ground.

 

[ctchamps]

Read that with my morning UConn Daily e-mail; was wondering when it was going to drop here...

Same here. So is Caron a casual fan or a stupid fan regarding UConn bb?

Certainly not a “what have you done for me lately” guy.

 

[tcf15]

Read that with my morning UConn Daily e-mail; was wondering when it was going to drop here...

I don't even care what he said about KO. This (and his anecdote about UConn-LMU) is what hurt the most:

UD: You guys all set a very high level at that university, from 1999 through your time to 2004 and so forth. Does it feel to you like this program is at the same level?

CB: I think when you shift conferences, we lost a lot. We lost a lot of history. We lost a lot of tradition. You know, saying goodbye to anything is tough, and we literally detached ourselves from our history. I feel like that’s what the conference did, and when we detached ourselves from our history, it left us on an island pretty much trying to figure it out.

We lost a lot. We lost a ton. We lost the rivalries that the world, the basketball gods, wanted to see. Georgetown vs. UConn. UConn vs. Syracuse. The things that we created with the Big East rivalries with Pittsburgh and St. John’s — we lost all that. Now, you know, the tradition is still strong in college basketball, but it lies in the ACC and things like that. We’ve pretty much scratched ourselves out of it.

UD: Now you get Wednesday night games at Tulsa.

CB: Yeah. Come on! I mean, like, where’s the [tradition]? I mean, it will probably be a good game, which it was, but I saw like, it went down to the wire or overtime or something like that [against Cincinnati], but there’s no real heavy storylines or anything that you can talk about.

 

[jibsey]

I remember talking to John Gwynn and he expressed the same sentiments. The former players seem to be in KO’s corner no matter what he did or didn’t do. He’s been wronged (punishment outweighs the crime) according to them, guess that’s to be expected. That along with the agreement that the quality of players has fallen.

 

[8893]

I don't even care what he said about KO. This (and his anecdote about UConn-LMU) is what hurt the most:

UD: You guys all set a very high level at that university, from 1999 through your time to 2004 and so forth. Does it feel to you like this program is at the same level?

CB: I think when you shift conferences, we lost a lot. We lost a lot of history. We lost a lot of tradition. You know, saying goodbye to anything is tough, and we literally detached ourselves from our history. I feel like that’s what the conference did, and when we detached ourselves from our history, it left us on an island pretty much trying to figure it out.

We lost a lot. We lost a ton. We lost the rivalries that the world, the basketball gods, wanted to see. Georgetown vs. UConn. UConn vs. Syracuse. The things that we created with the Big East rivalries with Pittsburgh and St. John’s — we lost all that. Now, you know, the tradition is still strong in college basketball, but it lies in the ACC and things like that. We’ve pretty much scratched ourselves out of it.

UD: Now you get Wednesday night games at Tulsa.

CB: Yeah. Come on! I mean, like, where’s the [tradition]? I mean, it will probably be a good game, which it was, but I saw like, it went down to the wire or overtime or something like that [against Cincinnati], but there’s no real heavy storylines or anything that you can talk about.

Agreed on both scores; it's just that the KO stuff tends to be toxic on the board no matter how one feels--or doesn't feel--about it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't even care what he said about KO. This (and his anecdote about UConn-LMU) is what hurt the most:

UD: You guys all set a very high level at that university, from 1999 through your time to 2004 and so forth. Does it feel to you like this program is at the same level?

CB: I think when you shift conferences, we lost a lot. We lost a lot of history. We lost a lot of tradition. You know, saying goodbye to anything is tough, and we literally detached ourselves from our history. I feel like that’s what the conference did, and when we detached ourselves from our history, it left us on an island pretty much trying to figure it out.

We lost a lot. We lost a ton. We lost the rivalries that the world, the basketball gods, wanted to see. Georgetown vs. UConn. UConn vs. Syracuse. The things that we created with the Big East rivalries with Pittsburgh and St. John’s — we lost all that. Now, you know, the tradition is still strong in college basketball, but it lies in the ACC and things like that. We’ve pretty much scratched ourselves out of it.

UD: Now you get Wednesday night games at Tulsa.

CB: Yeah. Come on! I mean, like, where’s the [tradition]? I mean, it will probably be a good game, which it was, but I saw like, it went down to the wire or overtime or something like that [against Cincinnati], but there’s no real heavy storylines or anything that you can talk about.

I think somebody needs to remind Caron that UConn didn't cause this or choose this. As for those rivalries he mentioned, those schools are spread across the Big East and ACC. They all left UConn, not the other way around. We would all like to reinstate the Big East as it existed, especially the early football playing iteration before any defections to the ACC.

 

[HungryHuskies]

This article made me realize that there hasn't much alumni support at the games this year. UConn hasn't been good, but that's no excuse for alumni. Could be more KO supporters out there than we think.

I think Kemba and J.Lamb were the only alums to show up this year?

 

[gampelcrazies]

This article made me realize that there hasn't much alumni support at the games this year. UConn hasn't been good, but that's no excuse for alumni. Could be more KO supporters out there than we think.

I think Kemba and J.Lamb were the only alums to show up this year?

UConn has done a horrible job with basketball alumni. I've seen so many ex players over the years (including this year) come to games at Gampel/XL and they don't even get mentioned on the scoreboard.

 

[SubbaBub]

KO's support from the former players is understandable but misses a huge fact. If, losses and violations aside, the program was in a good place, then why did KO freeze out and stop talking to Calhoun?

Whatever people may think about the school's decision, KO deserves 100% of the blame for the circumstances surrounding his dismissal. If was KO that forced the school to even consider making a decision

 

[UConn Dan]

This article made me realize that there hasn't much alumni support at the games this year. UConn hasn't been good, but that's no excuse for alumni. Could be more KO supporters out there than we think.

I think Kemba and J.Lamb were the only alums to show up this year?

Pretty sure RIP was at the Villanova game

 

[Kenny11]

Very good interview. No need to agree on every answer.

 

[UConnJim]

Caron's sentiments are understandable. It's like when one of your buddies gets fired at work when your company is under financial distress. You know your buddy wasn't doing his job and your company has financial problems, but you still feel your buddy got shafted when they fired him with no severance.

 

[UConnMike04]

He’s not wrong about the “no buzz” situation. UConn is clearly not what we were, they barely mention us on TV nowadays unless it’s a game we are actually playing. There are a handful of games I get excited about and they’re all mainly OOC.

I know, football drives the bus, etc and I’m not a “drop football” guy but end of the day I’m a basketball fan first and this league on top of how KO killed the program has def taken away my interest. Sad part is, if we are consistently ranked Top 10 again - I still can’t see myself getting overly excited bc of the conference schedule. Maybe one or two games a year down the road but not any in the foreseeable future. Hell, I didn’t even know we were playing Cincy until I saw it come across my app. Just no interest.

 

[Storrs South]

I don't even care what he said about KO. This (and his anecdote about UConn-LMU) is what hurt the most:

UD: You guys all set a very high level at that university, from 1999 through your time to 2004 and so forth. Does it feel to you like this program is at the same level?

CB: I think when you shift conferences, we lost a lot. We lost a lot of history. We lost a lot of tradition. You know, saying goodbye to anything is tough, and we literally detached ourselves from our history. I feel like that’s what the conference did, and when we detached ourselves from our history, it left us on an island pretty much trying to figure it out.

We lost a lot. We lost a ton. We lost the rivalries that the world, the basketball gods, wanted to see. Georgetown vs. UConn. UConn vs. Syracuse. The things that we created with the Big East rivalries with Pittsburgh and St. John’s — we lost all that. Now, you know, the tradition is still strong in college basketball, but it lies in the ACC and things like that. We’ve pretty much scratched ourselves out of it.

UD: Now you get Wednesday night games at Tulsa.

CB: Yeah. Come on! I mean, like, where’s the [tradition]? I mean, it will probably be a good game, which it was, but I saw like, it went down to the wire or overtime or something like that [against Cincinnati], but there’s no real heavy storylines or anything that you can talk about.

I'm not bothered by any of it. As you said, no one gets a lifetime pass. It's not a right to be making $3 million a year and having a losing record back to back seasons. His comment about LMU doesn't bother me either because it's Los Angeles. The only thing that makes waves in that town are the Lakers.

When Duke comes in NYC, most people here have no idea nor care. I remember watching the UConn-LMU game and recall a good turnout by alumni considering it's 3,000 miles away from campus. I also remember almost losing that game due to an incompetent head coach.

I respect Caron as a UConn legend, but these are not problems UConn wanted to confront but was forced to due to being left behind in conference realignment or poor coaching.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

"HaS CarOn eVen rEaD oLLiE's cOntRaCt?"

 

[uconnphil2016]

Of course Caron is going to believe in Ollie. Chris Smith shared his belief in Ollie too. They’re teammates they’re not gonna turn on him

 

[WrenchFan69]

Of course Caron is going to believe in Ollie. Chris Smith shared his belief in Ollie too. They’re teammates they’re not gonna turn on him

Did Ollie and Butler ever play together? Ollie is quite a bit older

 

[Robertelamin]

Did Ollie and Butler ever play together? Ollie is quite a bit older

Not at UConn but they are all about the UConn family.

 

[nomar]

Winning cures all

 

[Robertelamin]

Winning cures all

Even herpes? Asking for a friend...

 

[nomar]

Even herpes? Asking for a friend...

It helps. I'd advise a cocktail of AAC championships and Valtrex.

 

[buddy]

He’s not wrong about the “no buzz” situation. UConn is clearly not what we were, they barely mention us on TV nowadays unless it’s a game we are actually playing. There are a handful of games I get excited about and they’re all mainly OOC.

I know, football drives the bus, etc and I’m not a “drop football” guy but end of the day I’m a basketball fan first and this league on top of how KO killed the program has def taken away my interest. Sad part is, if we are consistently ranked Top 10 again - I still can’t see myself getting overly excited bc of the conference schedule. Maybe one or two games a year down the road but not any in the foreseeable future. Hell, I didn’t even know we were playing Cincy until I saw it come across my app. Just no interest.

You are exactly the problem that UConn has. Basketball fans, but not really UConn fans.